Towerborne is a brand-new work-in-progress free-to-play game preview title recently released on both Xbox and PC Game Pass, developed by Stoic and published by Xbox Game Studios. Due to the nature of work-in-progress (WIP) game previews, I went into the experience with tempered expectations. What I was greeted with was a charming and stylized side-scrolling hack-and-slash roguelike with connective tissue to games like 2008’s smash hit Castle Crashers, but interwoven with relatively deep lore and characters, and many MMO inspired elements.
As a WIP, I found myself both surprised and delighted to find that the game was consistently running smoothly, and I experienced zero crashes or even so much as a drop in frame rate. The combat, whether it was melee, magic, or some crazy combination of the two, seemed to flow as well as one might expect from a completed game upon release.
Upon starting the game, I was met with a surprisingly in-depth character creator full of all the classic fantasy style customizations one might come to expect, allowing for the player to create any variation of rugged human, sleek elf, grumpy orc, whimsical goblin, anime princess, and even an option to have Shrek ears and Spider Man face paint.
After I was satisfied with my character, I entered into a single player prologue that taught the basics of fighting, healing, dodging, blocking, etc., that had to be completed before being granted access to the multiplayer world.
Once I was thoroughly brushed up on my hacking and slashing abilities, the game warped me to a town where many other real players were running around gathering quests, cycling through their inventory, improving weapons, and interacting with the various NPC’s that littered the area.
The town is a sort of hub world that comes complete with a mission board for picking up various tasks, training grounds to test out newly acquired weapons and skills, quest givers to further the plot and help educate the player on how to evolve as they progress, and gear upgrade areas that allow for just that. It is also here that the player is able to purchase cosmetics for their gear and weaponry through premium currency, as well as freely touch up or fully recreate their custom character.
Once I was done running around in the town and talking to everyone I could, I entered the overworld map and began to better familiarize myself with the gameplay mechanics. The overworld was filled with even more players than the town, and with a seamless drop in and drop out mechanic for both online and same screen co-op play, I joined up with my buddy, fellow Everything-Nerd author Ben McGowan, and we started clearing our way through the map.
The overworld is on a hex grid that the player moves through like a game board, clearing out areas of enemies, treasure, and the occasional boss encounter, to further open up the board for more exploration on their adventure. Similar to old school JRPG overworlds, areas above the player’s gear score and ability level were highlighted in a red glow, with a number hovering over that particular hexagonal region to indicate that the player wasn’t quite up to the task just yet.
Some missions are even recommended to only be attempted with co-op partners, which encourages the player to engage with other players in the world and form a party or bring some friends along. During some missions there will be randomly occurring bonus objectives as well, like clearing out 20 enemies in 60 seconds and other similar trials that reward extra rewards.
Upon successfully completing an area, the players are met with a Victory screen and a treasure chest that explodes with loot to share with the whole team. After that they are presented with an after-action report that details the experience gained while on mission.
Many of the areas on the map are randomized, with ever-changing loot, enemies, and landscapes that make for a great deal of replayability, especially with the inclusion of revisiting areas at a higher difficulty tier once the player’s gear score is high enough, to obtain even better loot and face more challenging foes.
After we had a few missions under our belts, we were introduced to the class system. There are currently four classes in Towerborne that all feature unique weapons and abilities that can be upgraded as the player levels, unlocking a host of new powerful attacks and buffs that consistently change the dynamic of their team, as well as the flow of battle.
These classes included a balanced sword and shield class called the Sentinel, a fire elemental class aptly named the Pyroclast, a heavy melee focused bruiser named the Rockbreaker that Ben chose to help with crowd control, and my personal choice, a quick and agile dual dagger wielding rogue called the Shadowstriker. Each choice is accompanied by unique class-specific armor, weapons, and special abilities, that if properly utilized can really turn the tide against the multitude of monsters that will be encountered.
The above-mentioned special abilities, referred to as “focus skills,” are activated using an ever-growing pool of skill points, and can be freely swapped out with other skills so long as the player’s skill pool has enough available points to move around. As the player levels up, new focus skills are unlocked, and the skill pool grows larger, allowing for a steady organic progression of gaining bigger and better combat abilities as the game unfolds.
Another commonality between this game and Castle Crashers, are the pets you can get to follow you into battle called Umbras. These Umbras are each unique in appearance and feature different spells and attacks that can be actively used by the player during combat in between brief cooldown windows. Much like with the player’s character, their pets can also be customized with cosmetics that better match them to the team or make them stand out from the rest.
As we finished mission after mission and completed one NPC quest after another, we realized that the sheer number of new weapons, helmets, spaulders, chest wraps, waistbands, and boots, were akin to the loot mechanics in games like the Diablo series and The Division. Until reaching a much higher end-game level for our characters, we realized we would be constantly changing out our gear, breaking down what we were no longer using, and improving what we wanted to hang on to.
This style of randomized levelled loot has never been a preferred feature of mine as I like to spend as much time playing the game, and as little time organizing my inventory as possible. Towerborne however makes it relatively painless with a one-stop-shop location in the town for all things gear and weapons.
After a couple of hours of tearing through hordes of enemies with me, Ben McGowan had this to say;
“Collin and I partnered up to have, what was in my opinion, one of the best co-op sessions I have had for a long time! The game featured cool background design and what sounds like a background track pulled right from The Plucky Squire! Paired with a unique art style which plies itself right from the jaws of Legend of Zelda’s more modern entries, and a combat system which has a peak side scrolling beat em’ up vibe, I’d highly recommend Towerborne!
The game piqued my interest and kept my interest throughout dramatic battles and unleashing cool combos! Even with myself playing from the UK and Collin being across the pond, we had no issue with lag or any sort of delay. It’s a solid gaming experience for people who want to play together and maybe kick off their slippers and relax too! Highly recommended!”
All in all, we’ve enjoyed our time so far with Towerborne and look forward to seeing it evolve as it gets closer to an official launch. Even in these early stages, if you are a fan of stylized fantasy combat games or want something simple and fun to play with your buddies, we would certainly recommend giving Towerborne a shot!
